106: Chapter 106 Puppet Materials, Immortal Abode, Departure.

Luo Xiling lifted her skirt and hurriedly ran out the door, spotting her eldest and second brothers from a distance hitting on a beautiful woman with a mature 'big sister' vibe at the parking lot entrance.

She approached the three of them.

"Apologies, gentlemen, but I'm already married," the woman politely declined, turning with a smile to walk toward the clubhouse entrance.

Her tall silhouette gradually grew smaller in their sight.

The short, stout eldest brother's face darkened: "She's actually married!"

The tall, thin second brother's face lit up with joy: "She's actually married!"

Hearing their words, Luo Xiling's facial muscles twitched: "Can you two be normal for once?"

"Eh?" The two turned around and saw their younger sister, their voices filled with surprise. "Weren't you off looking for news about the Immortal? You got results so fast?!"

At the mention of the Immortal, she suppressed the urge to snap at her brothers: "There's news. He's in the mountains on the outskirts, on a mountain that's not very high but quite steep."

The eldest brother curled his lip: "I've seen the mountain you're talking about. The small plateau at the top only has weeds and rocks. Where would an Immortal come from?"

The second brother gave a doting smile: "If Little Sis says he's there, then he's there."

Infuriated by one's total disbelief and the other's patronizing attitude, Luo Xiling raised her heels and gave each of them a kick.

"I told you, the Immortal really exists! I've even talked to him!"

"Yes, yes, so what, Liu Yuxi is the Immortal, right?" The eldest brother was thick-skinned and didn't care about being kicked.

"It's Liu Yuxi who saw the Immortal!"

Luo Xiling rolled her eyes and turned to find her car: "Hurry back to the hotel, pack the climbing gear, and let's head into the mountains!"

Watching her brisk pace, the two brothers looked at each other and said in unison: "Is Little Sis for real?"

They didn't really want to go.

An Immortal?

It's the 21st century; how can such ridiculous rumors exist, and even cause such a stir in a city? Why haven't the Government Officials stepped in to handle it?

But seeing their younger sister, whom they had doted on since childhood, get into the car, they had no choice but to follow helplessly.

...

Other World.

Stepping out of the teleportation portal, Zhang Mu first deactivated the illusion and turned toward the bed.

Just as he turned, he saw the thin quilt half-tossed aside; Leah was nowhere to be seen.

Where's my Cat Girl?!

Zhang Mu rushed to the door and kicked it open, pulling a wooden staff from his Storage Pouch: "I'll see which bastard dares to touch my Cat Girl..."

Rushing into the courtyard, he saw Leah clutching a large pile of unknown wild fruits in her arms, her petite frame squeezing through the courtyard gate sideways.

"Mr. Zhang Mu, you're awake?"

She seemed to have gone into the mountains behind.

Perhaps fearing she would soil the new clothes Zhang Mu had bought her, she had changed back into her original patched gray robe. Her little face, which had been washed clean yesterday, was once again stained with a bit of dirt.

It was already ten o'clock; she must have been in the mountains for a while. The distinct, short, smooth golden fur on the back of her cat ears was slightly damp from the dew, clumped together in tufts.

"Did you go to the back mountain?"

"Mm-hmm!" She nodded and trotted over, lifting the arms that held the wild fruits. "Look, Leah picked a lot of apples."

This thing is an apple?

Looking down at the fruits in her arms, which were only as big as grapes, Zhang Mu casually picked one up and popped it into his mouth.

The sourness was so intense it made his teeth feel weak.

Showing no outward reaction, he chewed a few times and swallowed. "Tell me before you go out in the future, otherwise I'll worry, okay?"

"Leah understands."

Now that the Cat Girl was back, Zhang Mu breathed a sigh of relief. He went inside to get a wooden basin, and Leah released her arms, letting the wild apples tumble into it.

He went to the crystal at the corner of the courtyard to draw a bucket of water and poured it into the basin, then squatted down opposite Leah to wash the apples.

Watching Leah's cat ears twitch happily every now and then, Zhang Mu wondered if the treasures in the Silent Forest included any Magic Arrays.

He would always have times when he returned to reality. If something happened to Leah during those periods, he would regret it forever.

A Magic Array could solve this problem nicely, or perhaps a powerful defensive magic item.

Speaking of magic items, Zhang Mu recalled a few things.

Common knowledge from Avril's little lessons—aside from special types, magic items were generally divided into two categories.

One type comes with built-in magic, including but not limited to blessing magic, attack magic, and defensive magic.

The other type consists of empty magic items without inherent magic, where one can manually select and store appropriate magic within the item.

The badge Potter gave Zhang Mu was the latter.

Zhang Mu narrowed his eyes slightly, pulled the badge his teacher had given him from his Storage Pouch, and held it up to examine it.

Why was it that humans couldn't craft magic items?

Forbidden by the gods?

Limited materials?

Regardless of the reason, based on the inference that Earth's paper could be used to write magic script, if suitable mineral resources for crafting magic items could be found on Earth, then...

Couldn't he just start wholesaling them?

As for whether the minerals on Earth capable of crafting magic items were scarce or simply non-existent, Zhang Mu wasn't worried at all.

And speaking of materials, he thought about the puppet again.

Once they arrived and settled in the Silent Forest, he would gather all the materials needed to create an Owl and study their essence to see if Earth had any reserves.

If so, then his "Blessed Land" and "Magic Academy" would only be missing space-type magic items before they could open for business.

There was also the "Remolding the Body" potion that needed to be brewed quickly. He was busy.

"Mr. Zhang Mu, have an apple."

Snapping out of his thoughts, he looked up to see a small, water-stained hand holding an apple up to his mouth.

Leaning forward to take a bite, he said indistinctly, "Just call me Zhang Mu from now on, or Brother Zhang Mu. Always calling me 'Mr.' feels quite awkward."

Leah pressed her hands, which were holding a wild apple, against her chest, her tone somewhat tentative: "Can I really call you Brother Zhang Mu?"

"Why would you think you can't?"

"Brother Zhang Mu."

"Mm-hmm."

She lowered her head, her two cat ears twitching incessantly; she was clearly very happy.

Seeing this, Zhang Mu's hands couldn't help but itch with desire.

Testing me with this?

As if I could withstand such a test?

Magic surged, shaking the water droplets and stains from his palms, and he reached out directly.

Whoa, this feel!

The corners of Zhang Mu's mouth almost stretched to his ears.

After petting her for a while, his gaze fell on the gray robe Leah was wearing: "Leah, you can keep this gray robe as a memento, but don't wear it anymore."

"Hmm... after we set off and pass through a city, I'll buy you a few more sets of clothes."

"Leah doesn't need very nice clothes."

Zhang Mu smiled: "Did you like that white lace dress from the other day?"

"I didn't like it," she said, her voice rising slightly.

"That one didn't fit properly, so I didn't buy it. We won't be in a rush later, so we'll go to a clothing shop and have a few sets custom-made."

Before she could refuse, Zhang Mu reached into his Storage Pouch, pulled out a strawberry-flavored Alpenliebe lollipop, unwrapped it, and popped it into Leah's mouth.

The sweet strawberry flavor blossomed on her tongue. The Little Cat Girl sucked on the lollipop, her eyes lighting up: "Such sweet candy!"

Watching her happily, Zhang Mu quickened his pace, finishing washing the wild apples and putting them into his Storage Pouch.

Later, having nothing else to do, he led Leah out of the courtyard to stroll around the village.

There wasn't actually much to see.

Although the architectural style was novel, it became ordinary after seeing it for a while.

As the sky began to darken, they returned to the house and sat on the bed frame chatting until late into the night, when Leah fell asleep with a yawn.

Since there was nothing urgent on the Earth side for the time being, Zhang Mu didn't go back and slept on the wooden floorboards for the night.

Dawn.

Domit rushed back drenched in sweat and put the items he had already packed into his Storage Pouch.

Subsequently, the three of them left this unremarkable little village.